Mitchell Schnurman: Why Texas’ growth still draws high achievers

More people move from California to Texas than between any other states, usually for a job.

But not all hires are the same. A large number of researchers and college professors have been leaving prestigious posts to start over here, including many from struggling California. They’re experts at the top of their game and part of a select fraternity that can land jobs anywhere in the country.

So why come to Texas?

Each story is different, with its own motives and career path. I talked with six transplants to Texas colleges, and this much was clear: Although they’re making more money, they didn’t come for low taxes, cheap housing and tort reform, favorite talking points of pro-business leaders here.

To them, the difference-makers were growth and opportunity, and the chance to build something — even in hard-hit higher education. Public support and private donations are a big part of that.

Still, they worry that Texas may backslide. Gov. Rick Perry’s push for a $10,000 college degree and more accountability has changed perceptions. While every university feels pressure on productivity, Perry has raised doubts about Texas’ commitment to leading-edge research — and its significance.

As one professor said, “Apple isn’t coming to Austin to be near the community college.”

Put rhetoric and politics aside, and Texas’ advantages pile up. Higher ed is ascending here, driven by population growth, demand for a better-educated workforce and gains among many schools, including those seeking to become Tier 1 research universities.

One professor, who left UCLA for UT Southwestern Medical Center, said Dallas reminded him of Los Angeles in the 1970s. Surging population, high-end construction in North Dallas, expanding health care systems and enormous private donations add up to a compelling growth story.

And while Texas cut its higher education budget in the last Legislature, funding trends are much stronger than in most other states. In fiscal 2012, Texas spent 13 percent more on higher ed than before the recession, while nationwide spending was 4 percent lower, according to a closely watched survey.

‘Investing in the future’

The state’s $3 billion cancer project, approved by voters, has also added to the talent pool in the past three years. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has granted $130 million to help lure 43 scholars and set up their labs, including eight researchers from California. Last year, Rice University recruited a renowned team in physics and chemistry from University of California, San Diego, helped by $10 million from the institute.

Some of Texas’ appeal goes beyond the campus. Newcomers talk about teaming with businesses on commercial projects and connecting with donors. Even the constant highway construction makes an impression.

“People are investing in the future here; they’re not just fixing potholes,” said Jean-Pierre Bardet, who became engineering dean at the University of Texas at Arlington early this year. “How many states are actually investing in their infrastructure?”

Trained as a civil engineer, Bardet believes those investments say a lot. He had lived in the Los Angeles area since 1978, first as a student at Cal Tech, and then a faculty member at the University of Southern California. He saw boom times and stagnation, and he believes Texas is geared to grow. The UTA job was a promotion and pay increase, and he was won over by the school’s commitment to research.

“I thought I could make a difference in Texas,” said Bardet, who turns 57 next month.

Chance to build

Russell Poldrack was at UCLA for seven years, working in brain imagery, before he moved to UT-Austin in 2009. He said that California’s higher ed system was broken, and he doubted that the state could fund expansion. The University of California began imposing furloughs about the time he left.

“UT offered four faculty positions for my center, and there was no way that UCLA could keep up with that,” said Poldrack, a psychology and neurobiology professor and director of UT’s Imaging Research Center.

Tad Patzek was at UC Berkeley for 18 years before going to UT-Austin in 2008. He was troubled by internal politics at the school, and California students weren’t that interested in his specialty, petroleum engineering.

He also believed that Texas would continue to excel, largely because it’s such an energy generator. That makes it possible to pay for education, arts, roads and more, said Patzek, professor and chair of the petroleum and geosystems engineering department.

He was easily sold on UT, given the state’s role in energy and the school’s ambitions. He’s added four faculty members, and his team has had success with research, fundraising and improving facilities.

Patzek said he never even factored in the lack of a state income tax, a perk that many hold dear. Top researchers and professors have other priorities.

“I’m a builder, and I wanted the opportunity to do big things,” he said.

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About Mitchell Schnurman

Mitchell Schnurman has been writing about business news in North Texas for more than 25 years and has been a columnist since 2001. He joined The Dallas Morning News in 2012 after working at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Dallas Times Herald. He championed the lifting of the Wright Amendment, supported the American Airlines-US Airways merger and often weighs in on tax breaks for developers. Seven times, he’s been named one of the country’s “Best in Business” columnists by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.